1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an atomizer having a container with a fluid, at least one counter device for counting at least one of the operations of the atomizer and the number of containers inserted, and a housing part for at least one inserting and exchanging the container, the housing part being mounted on or detachable from the atomizer for inserting and/or exchanging the container.
2. Description of Related Art
An atomizer going by the trademark RESPIMAT® in the form of an inhaler is known, as represented by the basic principle of International Patent Application Publication WO 91/14468 A1 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,497,944 and 5,662,271) and in a specific embodiment in FIGS. 6a, 6b of International Patent Application Publication WO 97/12687 A1 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,726,124 and 6,918,547) and in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings of this application. The atomizer has as a reservoir for an atomizing fluid, an insertable, rigid container with an inner bag with the fluid and a pressurizer with a drive spring for feeding and atomization of the fluid.
For the purpose of completeness of the disclosure of the present patent application, reference is made as a precaution to the full disclosure content of both International Patent Application Publications WO 91/14468 A1 and WO 97/12687 A1 and their corresponding U.S. patents noted above. Generally, the disclosure there preferably relates to an atomizer with a spring pressure on the fluid of 5 to 200 MPa, preferably 10 to 100 MPa, with a fluid volume delivery for each stroke of between 10 and 50 μl, preferably between 10 and 20 μl, and most preferably approximately 15 μl. Here, the fluid is converted into an aerosol, the droplets of which have an aerodynamic diameter of up to 20 μm, preferably between 3 and 10 μm. The disclosure there further relates preferably to an atomizer with a cylinder-like form and a size of approximately 9 cm to approximately 15 cm in length and approximately 2 cm to approximately 5 cm in width and a nozzle jet fanning of between 20° and 160°, preferably between 80° and 100°. These values also apply to the atomizer according to the present invention as particularly preferred values.
Before use for the first time, the known atomizer is opened by detaching a lower housing part and a sealed container is inserted in the atomizer. Here, the container is opened by a delivery tube, which when the container is inserted, is introduced into the container as far as the inner bag. Then, the lower housing part is pushed back on.
By rotating the lower housing part of the atomizer the drive spring can be tensioned and fluid can be sucked into a pressure chamber of the pressurizer. During tensioning, the container is displaced within the atomizer with a stroke motion into the housing lower part, and when tensioned for the first time, the bottom is pierced by a piercing element in the housing lower part for aeration. Following manual operation of a locking element, the fluid in the pressure chamber is placed under pressure by the drive spring and without any propellant gas is delivered via a nozzle into a mouthpiece as an aerosol.
The empty container, following opening of the atomizer, can be exchanged for a full container and the atomizer can continue to be used.
German Patent Application DE 102 39 443 A1 and the corresponding U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0094147 A1 disclose a blocking device for a locking tensioning mechanism with spring-operated drive. The blocking device can be used, in particular, for a high pressure atomizer according to WO 97/12687 A1 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,726,124 and 6,918,547), and after a specified number of operations, to block the further use of the atomizer in that the rotation of two housing parts of the atomizer relative to each other is prevented, in particular, through a blocking element in the form of a spring.
German Patent DE 195 49 033 C1 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,054, which represent the starting point for the present invention, disclose a mechanical counter for a dosing device for the dosing of powder, liquid or gas substances. The dosing unit is used, in particular, for atomization of a medicine. The medicine is contained in a reservoir which is pushed into the dosing device. The counter is arranged in the dosing unit such that it cannot be detached. The counter allows counting of the number of doses from each reservoir and the number of reservoirs that are used with the dosing unit. A problem here is that if the counter states are not noted, faulty operations may result, such as the sucking in of air from an empty reservoir or use of more reservoirs than are permitted.
German Patent Application DE 100 61 723 A1 discloses a counter for counting dosed releases of fluid, paste or solid products and a device for the dosed release of such products. The counter works mechanically and has two counting rings which are arranged coaxially to a longitudinal axis of the counter. The counter also comprises an axially displaceable switch element, which runs across a stationary curved surface in such a way that the axial displacement is converted into a rotary movement of a counting ring. The counter can be positioned in a detachable or non-detachable manner on an aerosol container.